Though perhaps overmuch critical mileage has been made of young Norwegian Sigrid’s tendency to – gasp – not wear much makeup, it’s hard to deny that in toxic times, the clarity of her fresh-scrubbed sound really is a wholesome blast of fresh air. Strangers is the keynote song of the former BBC Sound Of winner’s debut: winsome melodies, arrestingly authentic lyrics, jagged electro-pop synths arcing into euphoria.
Bravely, she’s left off other previous hits – no Plot Twist or the powerhouse High Five – but there’s plenty to match them. The title track has a Robyn-like playfulness, deploying pitch-shifting effects to denote wobbling nerves before romping in with a clean, rushing Max Martin-ish chorus. Even better is Basic, a beautifully millennial supercharged love song of overthinking romantic frustration.
Sigrid is at her best when difficult emotions complicate her pop endorphins, as with the snarl and punch of Don’t Kill My Vibe, written about patronising producers, where she sneers: “You think you’re so important to me, don’t you?” That vibe is much too strong to kill, yet there’s a slight feeling, for all the quality here, that she could have maintained her momentum while taking a few more risks with her high-polish sound.
